DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2001 Her name is Assata! allowed for the most disconnected By ZAYID MUHAMMAD and disaffected of our youth at that time to enter onto the stage of histo- Sir, ry as revolutionary agents of Her name is Assata!... change, and as perhaps the boldest Although her enemies and example of attempting to implement Malcolm's line in the teeming slums the enemies of our people of this country's upsouth northern insist on calling her "the noto- cities... rious cop killer Joanne Chesi- It was a part of the New York mard" as they continue to chapter of the party that she became demonize her, her name is a 'Shakur,'...along with other fear- less Panthers from those ranks like Assata. Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mom, like To be sure, it is actually Lumumba Shakur, a brother who Assata Olubala Shakur or "she got things done and wore his dred- who struggles, loves her peo- locks with regal ease way before ple and is grateful." they 'got in style,' like a young She has indeed proven herself to Mutulu Shakur, who later become be most grateful for the bravest of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, a pioneering our ancestors who have gone on acupuncturist who used this content before us; for the strength of her tradition to get people clean, and family, especially her grandparents who is now one of our political pris- who taught her from the time that oners and like Zayd Shakur, a she was a child how to stand up to resourceful organizer who tragically racists; for having had comrades did not survive 'the Turnpike Mas- who were heroically rich in courage; sacre'...worked hard making the and for the compassion, love and Party's example of a socialist alter- unconditional support of those who native within a racist and capitalist helped her on her way along those paradigm that cared nothing about blazing trails of the underground. its poor, especially its black poor! With her incredible life commitment, Then came COINTELPRO, the her. very blood, spilt from her tender government's obsession with The late Kwame Ture (R) and an unidentified woman visit Assata torso several times. destroying our movement. When Shakur (L) in Cuba two years before'Ture's death. She was born on July 16, 1947, in they failed to get convictions in the the People's Republic of Brooklyn to Panther 21 case of 1971, they forced and captured... pie, even though their homes and the late Doris Johnson, a proud people to go underground, isolating Once captured, Assata was tor- communities would come under Black woman who took no shorts. them and charging with criminal niit- mnf^w n TVTirl- ciorro 111 focm*"*1*! c?» tr» -izrli i f I-na/-»o »-»-i*a Her maternal grandparents, the ouenses all along the way. On top of dlesex County Jail. While awaiting known as "Assata sightings," Freemans, were fiercely independent that, the enormous drama surround^ trial, she would be forced to stand ...some of the people boldly celebrat- Black people from Wilmington, N.C. ing what would come to be known as trial nearly a dozen times in a vari- ed Assata being liberated...Up went As landowners, entrepreneurs and "The Split,' the terrible internal rup- ety of bank robberies in New York posters which boldly said 'Assata Is Klan-resisters, they personally ture within the Party, would all com- (the playing out of Operation Ches- Welcome Here!' understood what Malcolm tried to bine to effectively destroy the Party rob). In spite of her prosecutors and The people were not going to let get us to understand, ""that land is as an aboveground organizations. persecutors going all out to make the two-legged police dogs, the gov- the basis of all independence!"...With But some like Assata vowed to some of those charges stick, she was ernment and the media turn them that clarity, they valiantly fought off 'carry it on'! They formed the Black acquitted in all of them!...Only to be against this valiant freedom fight- the rednecks and the bloodsuckers to Liberation Army. Although they convicted of murder in 1977, along er... hold onto their own choice land on continued to raise hell, the govern- with Sundiata, by an all-white jury And so we say today, as they still Wilmington's beachfront for ment moved from counterintelli- in Morris County, the whitest and try to villainize, demonize and ter- decades!... gence to counterinsurgency. The richest county in New Jersey, for the rorize our minds' eyes with more of Her aunt, Evelyn Williams, a trail- government then went after these Turnpike incident, even though she their lies, we know who our heroes blazing Black female attorney in her brave men and with a vengeance! As forensically proved that she could are and who our enemies are. own right who called our sister her a consequence, Assata, and many of not have fired any weapons in that Because of her commitment, little "Joey," as a child, and who the comrades, would then become incident because her hands were up because of her special place in the would later be her attorney,...this targets of a particular counterintelli- when she got shot!... whirlwind, we boldly say now what woman taught our sister to inhale gence operation known as 'Opera- Once convicted and sent to prison, we said as we rolled more than 60 intellect, excellence, the arts and cul- tion Newkill,' anytime a policeman the torture and abuse would contin- deep with our Assata Shakur Free- ture, and all of the world as it came come under fire, they would seek out ue. She was deliberately put in life- dom Fighters Caravan Straight thru New York that she could... former Panthers to blame for it. For threatening situations, liko being Outta Jersey to the Million Youth Together, these strong family Assata, they even had one called left alone with Klanwomen in the March, that "Assata Is Always Wel- anchors would shape Assata into "Operation Chesrob," an operation Alderman, West Virginia federal come Here!"... becoming the fearless, precocious, aimed specifically at her to make it facility. Your masters may find your book- artist, dancer, poet, writer, organiz- impossible for her to ever live any That all changed suddenly on licking and pathetic stance becom- er, mother, grandmother and war- semblance of a normal life ever November 1, 1979,.however, when ing and reassuring, but we, the peo- rior woman that she would ultimate- again. the whirlwind blew Oya-like ple who continue to resist, do not. ly become... And then came May 2, 1973... ***through that backwards upsouth Hands Off Assata! Free Sundiata! As a college student seeking her Somewhere between 10 and 12 state in which we share a residence. Ban Racial Profiling! true self, she was deeply impressed that night, the car Assata was in on It was Black Solidarity Day, and Free All Political Prisoners! Free with the emergence of young people the New Jersey Turnpike, was pulled forces from the underground came The Land! rising up to change the world...To over by state trooper Harper 011 the to what is now know as the Edna Long Live the Cuban Revolution! become a part of that she dared to basis of an alleged taillight viola- Mahan Correctional Facility in Clin- Black Power! join the Black Panther Party because tion...Shots were fired...and in the ton, New Jersey and liberated our All Power To The People! she deeply affected by its unique, end, Zayd Shakur and trooper Wern- sister! Muhammad is regional chief of obvious and special place in the er Foerster were dead; Assata and Feeding off the heroism of Assata staff of the New Black Panther whirlwind, a vehicle that uniquely Sundiata were critically wounded and her comrades, some of our peo- Party. The opinions on these pages are those of the writers. They may or may not be the opinion of the Daily Challenge,.